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The owner of Sichuan Kitchen plans to open a Sichuan-style hot pot restaurant in downtown Portland this winter. Qi Shen, a native of China’s Sichuan province, aims to launch Tuan Yuan Hotpot by early March. The restaurant seats about 80 and will be located at 29 Forest Ave.
, formerly home of art gallery Able Baker Contemporary . Before the pandemic, Shen featured hot pot as an occasional special at Portland restaurant Sichuan Kitchen — using portable induction burners at the dining room tables — and got good feedback from her customers. Shen said she expects people will find the concept especially appealing during Maine’s cold winters.
“The hot pot is a different dining style that we don’t have here. It’s very popular in Asian countries,” Shen said, noting how it’s similar to Japanese shabu-shabu and Korean jjigae. The concept centers around a simmering pot of broth set on built-in induction burners at tables in the dining room.
Customers cook their selection of thinly sliced meats, seafood, plant-based proteins and vegetables by dipping them into the broth. Shen said Tuan Yuan will offer different kinds of broth, including a Sichuan-style hot, spicy and numbing broth; a mild bone broth; a tomato-based broth; and a kimchi broth as well. The restaurant’s bar will serve beer, wine and sake.
Tuan Yuan will be open Monday through Friday for dinner from 4-11:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday for lunch and dinner from 11:30 a.
m. to 11:30 p.m.
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